13 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Horror Movies That'll Make You Say, "I'm Sorry, WHAT?!"

These facts are SCARY interesting (listen, I tried)!

1. Freddy Krueger's infamous sweater from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) was made as tacky as possible on purpose.

New Line Cinema

Wes Craven himself picked out the incredibly recognizable color scheme after he read in a science journal that red and green together were "the most difficult for the human eye to perceive correctly" because he wanted to add to the natural discomfort of seeing Freddy in the flesh.

2. Lupita Nyong'o would stay in character when shooting her scenes as Red in Us (2019) in order to maintain the difficult voice and emotion — which regularly terrified her co-stars.

Universal Studios

“She really kind of spooked me out a little bit,” co-star Shahadi Wright Joseph said. “She would really get into character and wouldn’t talk. It was kind of creepy.” Also — although this is not a behind-the-scenes fact — I'm still super pissed that she wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for this role and it will annoy me until I die. That's all. Okay sorry, back to the facts.

3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was originally planned as a horror film and even had Tobe Hooper, the director of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, on board as the director.

Universal Pictures

The project was titled Night Skies and was slated to essentially be a follow-up to Steven Spielberg's massive success with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, while filming Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg had a change of heart and direction after reading Melissa Mathison's much lighter script. After some changes (i.e.: swapping aliens for ghosts), Night Skies became Poltergeist — and was still directed by Hooper.

4. There were probably more jump scares on the SET of The Exorcist (1973) than in the actual movie.

Warner Bros.

Director William Friedkin's now-infamous tactics to get real terrified reactions from the actors included everything from purposely lowering the temperature on set to make the actor's uncomfortable, to blaring "unsettling" music through loud speakers between scenes, to RANDOMLY FIRING GUNS nearby to get genuinely scared reactions.

5. Jennifer Lawrence went to such a dark place while filming Mother! (2017) that she needed a tent on set filled will happy things to retreat to when things got "too dark."

NBC

"It got to such a low point eventually that I had to bring the Kardashians in. Not in person, obviously," Lawrence said. "I had to do this one scene, I had never gone that dark before, so I started getting scared of myself a couple days beforehand and I was like...I need a tent, away from the extras, just because I didn't know what I would do. So in there I just had a computer playing the Kardashians."

6. Patrick Wilson and the crew were terrorized by a haunted curtain while on the set of The Conjuring 2 (2016).

Warner Bros.

"It was a huge curtain that went from the floor to the ceiling, which was just sort of waving violently and there was no door open or no fan on," Wilson said. "That was a very, very odd occurrence because nothing else was moving around it and nothing else was blowing. You didn’t even hear any air, but you watched these curtains sort of violently going. It was pretty trippy." Eventually, things on the set got so weird, a priest was called in to rid the space of negative energy.

7. The ghosts that terrorized the set of The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) were really big Pearl Jam fans.

Screen Gems

"Two or three times [during filming] when I was going to sleep, my radio came on by itself," actor Jennifer Carpenter said. "The only time it scared me was once because it was really loud and it was Pearl Jam’s 'Alive.'" Carpenter also noted that her co-star, Laura Linney, had a TV that would switch on and off by itself throughout filming.

8. Sissy Spacek was so dedicated to her role in Carrie (1976), she slept in her (fake) blood-soaked prom gown to preserve continuity.

United Artists

"She had a trailer pulled behind MGM Studios in Culver City, and she slept in that blood for three days," co-star P.J. Soles said. "I was like, 'You’re amazing that you would want to sleep in that sticky, icky stuff.' And she was like, 'No, it’s got to match, I want it to look great!'"

9. Tony Todd actually had to hold all of those very real bees in his mouth while shooting the climax of Candyman (1992), but negotiated a $1,000 bonus for every time he was stung.

TriStar Pictures

"After every shot, [the bee handler] would vacuum them up into a little soft pouch and take them back to their dressing room. All Tony had was a dental dam to prevent them going down his throat," director Bernard Rose said. "He was very courageous — it’s such an unsettling and stunning image when the bees emerge from his mouth." (Also, for the record...he was stung a total of 23 times.)

10. Tobey McGuire and Kirsten Dunst were the studio's first picks for the lead roles in Final Destination (2000), but they passed and the roles went to Devon Sawa and Ali Larter.

New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures Releasing

And, as I'm sure you're keenly aware, the two still went on to work together when they co-starred in Spider-Man (2002) two years later anyway!

11. Alex Wolff was ready to break his own nose for real on a desk for the classroom scene in Hereditary (2018), but director Ari Aster was basically like, uh...no.

A24

“I said to Ari when that scene was coming up, ‘I will do it on a real desk, just tell me.’ And he said, ‘I love you and thank you but that is definitely not allowed,'” Wolff said. “So, he said, ‘We’re going to get a soft cushion desk.’ It had a foam top but it was hard on the bottom. I remember after, I was just panting, my voice is gone, blood is dripping down everywhere, and blood is gushing down my knee — real blood gushing down my knee because I slammed it against a chair. I couldn’t move my arm, my complete ankle was swollen — it looked like a balloon.”

12. Despite being the crux of the lead character's whole persona, luxury brands did NOT want their products used during any of the murder scenes in American Psycho (2000).

Lionsgate

Rolex permitted any character in the film to wear their watches EXCEPT for Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman, which resulted in the iconic line from the book, "Don't touch the Rolex" being changed to "Don't touch the watch" in the film. Also, when Calvin Klein pulled out of having their underwear featured during a rather gratuitous scene, Perry Ellis stepped in.

13. And finally — the titular character's design in The Babadook (2014) was inspired by Lon Chaney's look in the lost film London After Midnight (1927).

Entertainment One, MGM/Library of Congress

Writer/director Jennifer Kent has stated on occasion that the look for her top hat-sporting accidental gay icon was inspired by the classic film master of monsters, Lon Chaney. Specifically, his look in a sadly now-lost film, London After Midnight (as the prints were burned in the 1965 MGM vault fire). So, in a way, The Babadook is actually keeping his look alive today! Gotta love a happy ending!

Do you know any wild horror movie facts? Share your expert knowledge in the comments below! Teach us something!!!